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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24301825">The Spy &amp; The Spymaster</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake'>afteriwake</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Summer Of 100 Surprise Stories - Summer 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Black Widow (Movie 2020), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sherlock (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bars and Pubs, CCTV, Clint Barton &amp; Natasha Romanov Friendship, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Crossovers &amp; Fandom Fusions, Developing Mycroft Holmes/Natasha Romanov, Developing Relationship, F/M, First Meetings, Getting to Know Each Other, Holmes Brothers, Jealous Mycroft, Mary Morstan &amp; Natasha Romanov Friendship, Mycroft Being Mycroft, Mycroft Holmes Has Feelings, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Mycroft Holmes, Security Clearance, Siberia, Smitten Mycroft, Teasing Natasha Romanov, job offer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:27:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,136</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24301825</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mycroft Holmes gets swept up in the international intrigue only an ex-CIA assassin, an ex-Red Room assassin and a current Red Room assassin can bring to London. As he tries to straighten out who knows what and why they're where they're at, he finds himself drawn more and more into the Black Widow's web.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anthea/Clint Barton, Mycroft Holmes/Natasha Romanov</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Summer Of 100 Surprise Stories - Summer 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754359</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamin/gifts">Dreamin</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/3seconds/gifts">3seconds</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So part 1 is an answer to a prompt from <b>Dreamin</b> for the Summer of 100 Stories, and the other parts will come along later in the summer. <b>3seconds</b> also expressed an interest in reading a Mycroft/Natasha fic, so I'm gifting this to them as well. The prompt answered is <i>"Who taught you how to type? An octopus?"</i> from an anonymous user on Tumblr.</p><div class="center">
  <p> </p>
  <p>    <br/><span class="small">Banner by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamin/pseuds/Dreamin">Dreamin</a></span><br/>  </p>
</div>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Who taught you how to type? An octopus?" Sherlock pulled the keyboard away from his brother. “Give me that.” He began typing in the information they needed to find their target, one of the many victims of the Russian Red Room. This one, however, was on the side of good, as good as S.H.I.E.L.D. could be with the HYDRA infiltration. But after she testified in front of the United States Congress panel, she had disappeared, and Mycroft hated to say, they needed her help.</p><p>“I learned how to touch-type on a typewriter,” Mycroft said exasperatedly, but he stayed close to his brother. He watched as all the satellites began to focus on one location: Siberia.  Mycroft bit back a groan; Sherlock had bad memories of the area, not that he had been much help. He had tried to help Sherlock in his journey to take down Moriarty’s organization as much as possible but once he had gone to Siberia he had been so deeply entrenched it had taken Mycroft nearly a month to find him.</p><p>Better not to dwell on it.</p><p>Finally, the location beeped that she was poking around the same prison where Sherlock was tortured. The black and white CCTV camera did not do the brilliant’s spy’s flaming red hair any justice, but as the prison had been abandoned now, she didn’t appear to be in her normal wear as the Black Widow, wearing clothing designed for warmth and comfortable moving around.</p><p>“No,” Sherlock said. “I’m not going back.”</p><p>“I don’t expect you too,” Mycroft said. “I’ll go myself.”</p><p>“You? In the field?” Sherlock said, scoffing at his brother.</p><p>“Mrs. Watson is soon expecting, and as John has not forgiven her yet, I doubt you’ll want to make yourself scarce from London,” he pointed out, his tone softening. Any reaction was immediately stopped and Sherlock had a speculative look on his face. “I can go with Anthea. We’ll bring her to London to help with our...problem.”</p><p>“Yelena Belova is a pain in the arse. The problem is that there are people after <i>her</i>,” Sherlock said. “And she might be after Mary.”</p><p>“Which is precisely why we’re recruiting Ms. Romanoff to be Mary’s bodyguard for the time being until we can extricate Ms. Belova from her situation and find out why she came to London in the first place.” Mycroft looked at the watch on his wrist. “I will return in twenty-four hours. Bring Mary up to speed.” He waved his brother out of his office, but Sherlock didn’t budge. “You’re dismissed.”</p><p>“Be careful, Mycroft,” Sherlock said, his tone soft. “It does no good to lose you when we...Mary...needs your help.”</p><p>“So noted,” Mycroft said. This time, Sherlock turned and left, leaving Mycroft in the office alone with the CCTV feed of Natasha Romanoff. She was a striking young woman, and quite attractive, just as attractive as she was lethal. He had heard rumors that she'd had dalliances with some of her Avengers teammates, but he doubted that was true. She left them all too easily to do...whatever it was she was doing. And that was intriguing, too, finding out what she was up to.</p><p>It would be quite interesting to see what their conversation held when they finally met face to face...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anthea was surprised that Mycroft insisted on going into the field, but she did not protest going back to Siberia. She had been in a secondary location, ready to feed Sherlock and help whisk him back to London. She had not been there when he had made his reintroduction to London, monitoring the situation in Serbia still to make sure Sherlock’s extraction had not made new enemies where none were needed. She had her own set of contacts from her time there, and it was one of those contacts who arranged a face-to-face meeting with Natasha Romanoff.</p><p>She sat sipping a cup of tea. Unusual, he decided, but there was a cup waiting for him. The bar was busy and he wasn’t sure it was the best place to meet, but that had been the picked location and he was only lucky enough to have Anthea and two MI-6 agents inside. He didn’t want to know who Natasha had on hand if there was anyone on hand at all. The fact she had gone underground as had most of her colleagues in the Avengers meant, perhaps, she was in the bar alone.</p><p>“<i>Vstan</i>,” Natasha said softly as he approached, and he saw a slight movement towards Anthea that he recognized as her colleague Clint Barton. So. Perhaps she hadn’t been doing what she was doing alone. Barton was formidable and an asset to SHIELD. It made sense that he would stay close to the asset he had brought into it. Their partnership was legendary in spy circles, even before both of them joined the Avengers.</p><p>“I come with a proposition,” Mycroft said, sitting down across from her. He nodded and moved his fingers in the secret language that he and Anthea had developed years ago to let her know all was well. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her relax and then saw Barton bring her a drink. If Natasha took him up on his offer, he may extend it to Barton as well.</p><p>“I’m not joining MI-6,” she said with a small smile. “So what else can you offer?”</p><p>“I have need of someone with your...expertise...to keep a friend of my brother’s safe. She has been in a similar position to you, and she’s expecting her first child while there is someone after her.” He picked up his cup of tea and took a sip. It was nice and strong with a splash of milk, just how he preferred it. She had done her homework at one point or another. “That someone is in trouble as well, and that might be of concern to you.”</p><p>“Who?” Natasha asked, running her finger around the rim of her teacup before lifting it up.</p><p>“Yelena Belova.”</p><p>Her expression changed just slightly, only in the furrowing of her brows, a sign more of irritation than confusion. A small string of Russian curses escaped her lips, the volume soft but the tone menacing, and then she had her tea. “Who would I be protecting?”</p><p>“An ex-CIA assassin named Mary Morstan.”</p><p>Now her eyebrow raised. “She does not need my help. She’s always been able to take care of herself. But...she was as close to a friend as I ever found in spies from the States. I’ll see what I can do.”</p><p>“Bring Barton as well,” Mycroft said. “The extra help will set my brother’s mind at ease.”</p><p>“How do you know he’s going to come with me?” she asked.</p><p>“Because you two are attached at the hip, as you were in SHIELD.”</p><p>“My hips are my own business unless you want to make then yours,” she said, giving him a smirk. “I know you have a fascination with me, Mister Holmes.”</p><p>“Yes, well, you are a fascinating case study,” he said, only the slightest bit flustered. She had done her homework indeed. “Be in London before Mrs. Morstan gives birth to her daughter. Within the next twenty-four hours would be best.”</p><p>“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, sipping more of her tea. Her entire stance became closed off, and Mycroft finished his tea and motioned to Anthea it was time to leave. Barton actually looked disappointed that his company was being taken from him, and Mycroft made a mental note to warn Anthea against fraternization.</p><p>He cast a glance back at Ms. Romanoff, watching Barton take his drink to her table as Anthea came close. A flash of jealousy went through him and he suppressed it quickly. Perhaps he needed to remind himself that fraternization was a bad idea.</p><p>A bad idea, indeed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You arranged a babysitter for me?” Mary was pacing in his dining room as he was trying to eat his breakfast. He’d stayed awake the entire flight back from Serbia, and he needed the coffee, but the pacing pregnant woman was distracting him.</p><p>“Sit, Mrs. Watson, and I’ll explain.”</p><p>Mary raised an eyebrow but did sit, in the chair next to him instead of where she had been pacing at the other end of his dining room table, and she stole a piece of his toast. She grinned as he glared, but she hadn’t taken his coffee so she was able to live. “Why is Nat hovering?”</p><p>“So Sherlock didn’t tell you?” he asked after taking a sip.</p><p>“No, he said someone from the Red Room was going to help keep an eye on me to keep me safe from Belova, and considering most of the Red Room trainees want to kill her and Nat doesn’t, it was a small list.” She nibbled on the toast. “Is Clint coming too?”</p><p>“Are you sure you weren’t a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent too?” Mycroft asked, raising his eyebrow this time.</p><p>“No. I was an active assassin before Nat and Clint joined S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2001, so we had some...joint manuevs, I think you’d call them? And obviously, Nat spilled the beans all over the internet. Why do you think my enemies are coming out of the woodwork? I went by Rosamund when they knew me, but I knew eventually someone would associate Rosamund with Mary Morstan.” She nibbled on some more of her toast. “You had to know it too. I couldn’t have possibly fooled <i>you</i>.”</p><p>Mycroft stayed quiet, sipping his coffee, not wanting to admit she had, indeed, fooled him. Her crafted background as Mary Morstan was quite solid, and when she realized that, a wide grin formed on her face. “No gloating. You’re in danger.”</p><p>“But my background never flagged anything for you. That means it was worth every damn penny I spent on it.” She had some more toast. “Is Nat going to be hovering behind the scenes or can we just have her stay by my side and let Clint lurk in the shadows like he likes to do so much?”</p><p>“I’ll leave the details of your new security detail to Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Barton,” Mycroft said. “Now, as to your husband’s detail…”</p><p>The smile faded from her face. “Do you really think he’s in danger?”</p><p>“He’s been in danger since he started associating with Sherlock, but I suppose it’s more dangerous now. I know more of Ms. Romanoff’s methods than I do Ms. Belova’s.”</p><p>“Yelena will go after John to get to me if she needs to,” Mary said grimly, setting the half-finished piece of toast back on Mycroft’s plate. He looked at it disdainfully but he didn’t do more than pick it up and place it on his napkin. “Why is she after me?”</p><p>“There is a price on your head. Many prices, I assume, but the one with the largest amount has attracted her attention. She is in a situation that requires a significant amount of money to extricate herself from. I’m hoping to stop her from hurting you and extricating her myself.”</p><p>“You know, with S.H.I.E.L.D. being defunct and all now, you should try and get Yelena to join MI-6. You could use her talents.”</p><p>“And yours.” Mary’s eyes widened. “I’ve thought if you agreed, after the birth of your daughter, you’d be...safer.”</p><p>“Mycroft, you really do care.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He gave her a flustered look and she chuckled. “I’ll take the toast and leave. I’m sure Nat’s outside somewhere, and Clint’s in the nearest tree outside your property. If I let them know I see them, maybe between us we can keep the entire Watson family safe.” She picked up the toast and made her way out of his living room. Anthea guided her to the foyer, and then came back alone.</p><p>“Do you suppose I should step in?” he asked her.</p><p>Anthea tilted her head. “Not yet. See what Mary can do first. You can work behind the scenes and feed Ms. Romanoff information.”</p><p>“As I expect you’ll be feeding information to Mr. Barton?”</p><p>Anthea grinned. “Oh no. I’m just going to take him to bed.” Mycroft choked on the coffee he was drinking. “Mycroft, what do you think I did to keep my bed warm in Serbia? I didn’t sleep <i>alone</i>.” She watched him lower his cup and then turned around to leave. “No need to get jealous that there may be something between them. You actually have a chance.” She left then, and he glared at her retreating figure. He was going to stay professional in this matter...as long as he possibly could, at least.</p>
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